Beer Braised Chicken Sliders With Hoisin Beer Barbecue Sauce

There’s a good chance that when you think about cooking with beer, a meat recipe comes to mind. Your Dad’s beer marinated ribs? Beer can chicken? Beer braised pork? There’s a good reason for that.

Not just for the spectacular flavors that craft beer can impart on the meat, but because beer, especially high acid beer, acts as a meat tenderizer by breaking down tissue.

For this recipe you are free to run the spectrum of beer styles. Most recipes I write will be accompanied by stern warning about using any beer other than the type called for, this isn’t one of those recipes. That IPA I keep shaming you into avoiding? You can even give that a try. My gut instinct with a recipe like this was to use a light, high acid beer with herb notes (basil, sage, oregano) but I opted for a porter to test my “Any Beer Goes” theory.

The porter effect, as I am now calling it, gave a “meatier” quality to the chicken. Which turned out wonderfully, and gave this a bit of a pork taste.

The beer I used for this recipe was the Payback Porter by Speakeasy. It’s a fantastic choice for a porter because the notes are similar to those I see in barbecue sauces and rubs: smoke, coffee, cocoa, and molasses.

Next time I’ll use a beer with a high acid content for a little contrast, but as far as the beer that you pick, experiment and let me know how it goes.

Heat 2 tbs canola oil in large pot or Dutch oven. Sprinkle the chicken with salt on all sides. Place in the pot and cook on each side until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Cover with 1 1/2 cups of beer and 1/2 cup chicken broth, cover and cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked.

Made this tasty little delight for dinner tonight. We love it! I used an Amber and added a touch of molasses to the sauce. The sauce does pull a great pork flavor from the chicken. I did add some chili flakes to my sandwich as I like some punchy heat. Served with a Carolina style coleslaw and called it a night. Thank you for my go-to BBQ recipe for Summer 2012!

I made this tonight and it turned out wonderfully. I used a stout (Guinness – b/c the only beer I had in the fridge were this and Michelob Ultra) it gave a really rich, nice, slightly bitter bite to the chicken. It was very tasty – great recipe, thank you! My mother-in-law really liked it too, that’s who I was most worried about. I served it with an asian slaw, lime-agave fruit salad and chipotle baked beans.

I actually don’t even own a slow cooker/crock pot so I have no idea! Maybe look for similar recipes and check what cooking time other people used? But let me know what time you use and how it turns out, I’d love to know!

I made this the other night and it was a hit! I used a Chocolate Porter from a local brewery called Phillips. The left overs (we used a lot of restraint) lasted me a few days at work where I could brag about how I can not only drink beer, but cook with it too! 😉

I made this tonight and it was outstanding. I used Magners hard cider in place of the beer (the Sierra Nevada I had in the house just didn’t sound right with hoisin sauce). I will definitely make it again!

Just found your blog.. My brother brews his own beer and does it pretty well (grows his own hops, experiments with wild yeast)! We are a big food, and as of two years ago, craft beer family. I can’t wait to share this with everyone in my family so we can try these recipes using my brother’s brews!

I’ve been looking for a recipe to bring to my work’s potluck, and this looks perfect! I’ve only recently gotten into cooking, so I’m excited to try this out! The thing is that I haven’t cooked much yet, so I have a question – should I make some slaw to go on the sliders (as an option for my coworkers to put on)? Or do you think this is best plain, with no slaw? Thanks!

I’ve served this before with a quick pickled slaw and another time with a spicy slaw that had jalapeños in it. Some people really like to have it with a slaw so it would probably work well to have it as an option.

This recipe is truly amazing. It took my boyfriends love for me to a higher level, I promise. Made it several times now, with different porters. Havn’t found the one you are using, but I’ve found that Nøgne Ø’s porter (local brewery here in Norway) and actually one called Bully Porter is really good here. Yum.

I bought your book after theese sliders, so much good! Wish I just could stay home and make food and eat.

You have any suggestions for side dish here? I’ve tried jalapenos dip, coleslaw in different variations and of course homemade burgerbread or tortillas.

Made this for supper tonight. I am wondering if I did not use a beer with enough flavor. I cooked the sauce and found it to taste only of hoisin sauce. Pretty bland. I added about 1-2 tbsp of hot sauce and about 1/2 cup of ketchup and cooked for a bit longer. My family enjoyed it very much. I will try a different beer next time, but I know I can always add what I did this time around.